Spears, while historically significantly more common than they are in our game, and realistically, more likely to pierce through armor (especially leather armor), do not suffer from many of the drawbacks of swung weapons. For example, there is no minimum weight requirement.

Additionally, armor wearers suffer a significant penalty to in game performance whether by additional weight, heat retention, limited mobility or all of the above. Modifying armor to simply absorb one strike (without changing any other rules) would decrease the effectiveness of armor as a whole and reduce its prevalence. And let's be clear; armor is cool and looks great.

_________________- Derian -

"An octopus has eight arms, three hearts, five *, two Super Bowl rings, a beak, and the power to solve crimes."